U.S. Government support to the coffee industry through USAID began nearly a decade ago and continues to this day. Through Feed the Future, it is working with coffee stakeholders to expand the reach of unique, sustainably sourced Ethiopian coffees in conventional and specialty international markets.
USAID on its press release announced that aproximately twenty members of the U.S. Congress visited the Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union in Addis Ababa on Monday, July 27th.
In addition to touring the facility, the Members had the opportunity to tour a small exhibition of displays by private sector and Government of Ethiopia partners of the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative – Feed the Future and participate in a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony.
Coffee is the backbone of the Ethiopian agriculture sector and the national economy. It represents one of its largest sources of foreign exchange and is essential to 5 million Ethiopians who rely on this industry for their livelihoods.
